Animal Observation
(How to Watch Wildlife)
The first step to successful observation is learning to recognize individual animals. Refer to the Ident-a-Chimp activity to learn how to recognize individual chimpanzees. Once you know the individuals, you can begin observing what they do. Since it is difficult to watch even one animal constantly throughout the day, different sampling techniques are used. For instance, the chimpanzees at Gombe are followed for 12 hours a day and their actions are recorded at 15 minute intervals.
Instructions
Print out a copy of the behavior data record sheet on page 2 of this activity, then go online along with researcher Elizabeth Vinson Lonsdorf to follow chimps and learn how to observe their behavior. www.discoverchimpanzees.org/elearn After you watch a behavior, compare what you saw with what a professional researcher observed by reading the instructions following each video. Observe a single animal of your choice for a total of 10, 20, 30, or more hours. This can be broken down into half hour or hour sessions.
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Did You Know...
Jane Goodall and her team have logged in more than 175,000 hours watching chimpanzees at Gombe! Some of their most important discoveries weren't made until they had logged many years of observation.
Related Activites
How to Track Wildlife Chimpanzee Territorial Behavior Learn How to Speak Chimpanzee Ident-a-Chimp
Try This, Too!
www.discoverchimpanzees.org
Animal Observation Worksheet
Subject Time Behavior Notes
Use this sheet to record what you see while watching the chimpanzee videos then compare them 2with the researcher’s commentary. You can also use this for your own animal observation!
www.discoverchimpanzees.org
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